Chapter 19

James took a big breath and blew out the five candles on his birthday cake as his family and friends sang the birthday song to him. His mother stood close behind him beaming and his dad was standing across the table next to his Uncle Chris and Uncle Stefan. James was able to extinguish all the candles with one breath and all the party started clapping. With a big grin on his face, he looked up at his dad, who nodded his head in recognition of his achievement with a quiet, "Well done James."

Louisa noticed the moment that father and son shared, the tenderness in Martin's eyes, and she smiled to herself as she wiped a single tear that crossed her cheek. When she had first suggested to Martin that they celebrate James' birthday this year with a number of their friends at the farm, she feared that he would dismiss the idea out of hand. He hated large social gatherings, much preferring the company of just his small family or a quiet dinner with one other couple. He surprised her this time by agreeing; it was James' fifth birthday after all. She just hoped that he would maintain his patience until the last guests went home.

Martin's only stipulation was that there were to be no presents from the other guests. He and Louisa had already decided on their gifts for James, a simple microscope from Martin and a special set of Legos from Louisa. They had given him these presents two nights ago in a quiet family celebration, right after Martin arrived from London. They didn't want to spoil the boy with too many toys that he might never use. As it was, Ruth and Miriam were both likely to give him something special, as would his Uncle Alan's family. Martin had also wanted to give him a frog to dissect, just as his grandfather had on his own fifth birthday, but Louisa had demurred. James was fascinated by all living creatures, that she knew. She had to pull him away from a nest of beetles in order to pick up Martin when he arrived from London. Even so, she wasn't sure James was quite ready for an introductory anatomy course. Martin disagreed and, after much discussion, she acquiesced to the frog at his next birthday.

So here they were, hosting a barbeque at the farm this summer with friends and family. It was the largest gathering they had held at the farm ever. Her mother had spent a week with her brother Alan and his family at their home in Leeds and drove down with them to spend a holiday week in Cornwall. Martin's Aunt Ruth was there, "Graunty Ruth" or just plain "Graunty" to the boys, a designation to which she feigned dismay but in which she secretly delighted. Their friends, Chris and Michelle Parsons were there with their three children along with her dear Port Isaac friends Alicia and Stefan.

Their close friends Amy and Thomas Woodvine had come down from London for the week and were staying in a village holiday cottage with their daughter Gina and toddler son Tommy. Jeanine and Walter had driven over for a few days from Dorset; Martin and Louisa had continued the friendship with the couple after the "wedding from hell" and Jeanine and Walter usually came to visit for a long weekend each summer. They had married two years ago and now they were expecting their first child who was due to arrive later in August.

Aunt Holly was on holiday with her newest boyfriend, Arthur, who had booked a private villa on the coast of Crete. It sounded idyllic. Booking such a wonderful holiday for the two of them just might mean he was serious about Holly. She and Martin had had dinner with Holly and Arthur a month or so ago and they both liked him. Perhaps he would be "the one"; Louisa hoped so; but Holly had never had any luck with men; the odds were not good.

The only person missing was Joan, James' and Robert's "Gamma". Joan should have been there for she loved James as much as any grandmother could, but she had left them in January. Louisa kept thinking of her all during the party, wishing that she could have been there and she knew that Martin was thinking of her as well. The farm had been her home for decades and the memory of her was everywhere they looked. They had to explain more than once to James that his Gamma couldn't come back from heaven for his birthday, and that he would have to settle knowing that she was looking down on him as he celebrated. Martin had been sceptical about all the talk of heaven since there was no scientific evidence for such a place, but Louisa reminded him that there was no evidence that it did not exist, that most people in the country believed in its existence and it was comforting to think that a loved one was in a good place. Martin reluctantly relented; while he didn't extoll the attributes of heaven, neither did he deny them, letting Louisa help James in her way. Just as he had done in the days after Joan's death, he spent a quiet hour with James the night before the party looking through her photo albums and sharing their memories of her. Louisa knew this was his way of helping James, and she could only hope that it helped not just her son, but also her husband who missed his Aunty Joan more than he would ever admit.

It was one of those idyllic summer evenings on the north Cornwall coast, warm but not hot, with a clear sky that would stay light for hours into the night. Martin and Stefan had manned the grill and everyone enjoyed the chicken, fish, and especially the hamburgers that Louisa insisted be included in the menu. Louisa and her mother had prepared several sides that were healthy, Miriam's courgette salad and Portuguese tomato rice and Louisa's vegetable pasta salad, along with some crusty whole meal bread.

Martin had even been agreeable to providing their guests with several selections of wine and beer and Chris Parsons had brought a bottle of fine single malt whiskey like that he frequently enjoyed in Martin's flat as a poor medical student, but which Martin no longer kept in the house.

Once all the cake and ice cream had been consumed, the children became restless and it was time to leave the table. Louisa joined the women who congregated in the kitchen to clean up and enjoy a bit of gossip while the men settled on the terrace, each with a glass of Chris' special whiskey. It promised to be a very convivial evening. Their assignment was to keep an eye on the younger children playing on the lawn, running and chasing each other and throwing a ball. The older children, the Parson's three and Louisa's two nieces wandered off to explore the rocky sea cove. Louisa kept an eye on things nonetheless, peeking out the window periodically to assure herself that the younger children were safe.

James and Gina were accustomed to playing together in London parks and they were kicking the football around the small lawn near the terrace. They would occasionally let the two toddlers pick up the ball and pass it around, but after a peaceful half hour of play, all four of them tumbled into a heap on the grass and the boys were compelled to start wrestling. Martin jumped up and clapped his hands, "No, no, nooo …" Gina managed to slip out of the melee to find a safe place on her father's lap, but the boys continued to roll around, laughing and squealing and enjoying the physical play.

Thomas set Gina down and pulled himself out of his chair to help Martin separate the boys as Louisa and the other women came out of the kitchen. "What's going on?"

Martin had just lifted up Robert and was holding him, wriggling, at arm's length, and shouted in reply, "The children are rolling around in the dirt. They will be filthy. There's no telling what pathogens they are being exposed to."

Thomas managed to collar Tommy, leaving James alone, sprawled on his belly with his head propped up on his hands. "Dad, we were just having some fun!"

Thomas felt he had to speak up and added, "I'm sure there's no harm done. A little dirt never hurt anyone."

At this point Walter, the Dorset GP, felt compelled to speak, "Getting dirty is fine, but it's important that they not ingest any of that dirt. Toddlers like Robert and Tommy can't be expected to keep their dirty fingers out of their mouths. The popular conception that ingesting a little dirt is good for a child's immune system is completely false. There are microbes in soil that can cause serious infections. Martin is right to be concerned."

Holding James and Robert each securely by the hand, but not close enough to risk dirtying his own clothes, Martin nodded to Walter as he ushered the two squirming boys towards Louisa, "Thank you."

Stopping in front of Louisa, he presented the two boys covered in dirt to her, "Do you want to take them to the bath or shall I?"

Turning to Amy, she said, "Why don't we take all three of the boys to the tub? It could be fun."

Amy agreed, "That's a great idea. Gina can get her bath when we return to the cottage." She took Tommy from her husband and followed Louisa as she started to enter the house.

Martin shouted to them, "Best strip them before taking them inside. They'll scatter dirt all over the floors otherwise."

Louisa turned to give Martin one of her looks, but then reconsidered, "Yes. That would be prudent. James, off with your clothes."

James looked at her incredulously, "Mummy! Not in front of everyone!"

"Yes. You can leave your pants on, but everything else off, shoes and socks too."

James huffed, but moved behind his mother for a modicum of privacy and began to slowly shed his clothes. Louisa and Amy stripped the toddlers and then marched the three of them up the stairs to the tub. The boys were covered in dirt, head to toe, so they scrubbed them down with soap and then rinsed them off before filling the tub to let them play for a bit.

The adults took this break to refill their glasses and Martin went into the house to pull a few more chairs out onto the terrace for the women. After fifteen minutes or so, he strode up the stairs and knocked on the bathroom door. The boys were splashing and squealing as they played with Robert's squeaky yellow ducky, the toy alligator, the toy boats and other water toys that were kept in a basket under the dresser for bath time. The noise was almost deafening, but the two women, engrossed in a conversation, barely noticed. They were sitting on a small bench that they kept in the room for just this purpose and didn't hear Martin's knock. He knocked louder and Louisa shouted over the din, "Come in."

Martin opened the door and, appalled at the sight, barked, "Louisa, what is going on in here?" He looked down and before she could reply, he cried, "There's water all over the floor!"

Louisa looked at the floor and replied, "Yes there is. That always happens when we bathe the boys together. It's fine"

"It doesn't always happen. It never happens when I bathe them. They know they are not to splash when in the bath."

Louisa sighed and smiled sheepishly at Amy who screwed up her mouth and looked away, not wanting to get involved in this little domestic tiff between her friend and her husband. Louisa was aware that she was a bit more lenient with bath time discipline than Martin was, especially when he was away. She looked up at Martin and gave him a toned-down version of "the look" which she hoped he would understand to mean, please don't make a scene with Amy here, then told him, "It's alright Martin. I'll mop it up when we finish."

Martin noticed the look and somewhat mollified with her plan to mop it up, responded stiffly, "Hmmm. Right. I came up to see if you needed any help."

"I thought they could play for another five minutes or so. You could take Robert then. But I can take care of them both if you'd prefer to go back to our guests."

Tipping his head toward the stairs, Martin replied, "Our guests all seem to be quite content with their drinks." He stood at the door for a few moments longer, glancing around the room, and then added, "I'll just get their pyjamas and some towels." He had noticed that Louisa had failed to get any towels before putting the boys in the tub. Turning to Amy, he asked, "Do you have any clean clothes for Tommy?"

Amy looked up, "Yes, they are in my bag in our car. Could you ask Thomas to retrieve them for me, please?"

"Yes," Martin replied and jogged down the stairs, conferred with Thomas and jogged back up. He then went into the boys' bedroom where he took their pyjamas from under their pillows, and pulled three towels from the linen cupboard before going back in to help dry the boys off.

"All right then, Robert." He reached out to his youngest son who continued to splash gaily, "Robert." Martin gave him a stern look, and Robert, with an equally obdurate look, made one last grand splash and then stood up and reached out his arms to his father.

Realising that bath time was now officially over, Louisa pulled the plug and announced, "Okay James, Tommy, time to get out of the tub."

Within a few minutes all three boys were dried off, in their pyjamas, hair combed and back downstairs to say their good-nights. As they walked out to the terrace, they were greeted with cheers from their friends. Louisa laughed, "Yes the boys clean up quite nicely don't they?"

Chris, piped up, "Well, yes they do. But the cheers are for Martin."

Louisa and Martin looked at each other confused, Martin sputtering, "Wha …?"

Chris continued, "Ruth and Walter were just telling us a story about how you defended Louisa's honour at a wedding a number of years back."

Louisa started to laugh, the memory of that night now grown funny as the years passed, but she covered her mouth as she saw that Martin didn't share her amusement. His eyes were growing wide, and she could see the anger rising in his face, "Ruth!" he cried, "That was told to you in confidence. You had no right to share it with others."

"Martin, both Thomas and Walter were there. It's not as though it's a great secret."

"And you decked Dennis Manson … well done Martin!" Chris was beside himself. He knew the reputation of the infamous solicitor, and couldn't believe that his close friend had actually beaten the man in a fistfight.

Martin stiffened as his face reddened and he blustered, "I would hardly say …."

Ignoring Martin's effort to protest, Chris continued to gush enthusiastically, "Did you hear? He recently lost a big malpractice case against a hospital in Bristol. Seems his client wasn't as forthcoming about his injuries as he should have been and the hospital was shown to be completely in the right."

"Really?" Martin tucked his head in thought as he processed this information.

"It was a vascular case. I'm surprised you hadn't heard."

"No, I rarely pay attention to that kind of gossip." He tugged on his shirtsleeves and raised his eyebrows as a small smile crept across his face, "Good to hear, though."

Louisa had been holding Robert as this scene unfolded and she put him down in one of the empty chairs and walked over to Martin, wrapping her arms around his waist and giving him a chaste kiss on the lips, "My hero."

"Louisa!" Martin cried, flushing a bright red.

Shortly afterwards, the party started to break up. Thomas and Amy bid them farewell with promises to call the next day to plan an outing with the children. Within a half-hour the party had broken up with just Ruth and Miriam staying at the farm.

"I think the day went exceedingly well, don't you Martin?" All the guests had long gone, the children were in bed, the house was quiet, and Louisa and Martin had taken a few minutes to sneak away for a short walk to the cliffs overlooking the sea. They often took this walk when they were visiting the farm. The sun was settling lower in the sky with just a few clouds scattering its rays about. The air still held the warmth of the day, but the constant breeze off the ocean swirled around them with the hint of the cooler temperatures that sunset would bring.

'Mmm. Satisfactory." Martin agreed with her.

She looked at her monosyllabic husband and repeated his words back to him, "Yes. It was satisfactory."

"It would have been better if they hadn't dredged up that ancient history."

"Mmm, that was unfortunate." She reached over to rub his back in an effort to soothe the anguish those memories engendered. "Let's try to put that episode back in the vault where it belongs. Shall we? Hmmm?"

"Yes."

They arrived at the edge of the cliff and stopped, standing together gazing out over the restless sea. She slipped her arm around his waist and he responded by placing his arm around her shoulder. "This is nice, isn't it?"

'Yes."

"I never had a chance to ask you if James liked his microscope."

"He did. We spent several hours with it yesterday morning. We found a few chicken feathers near the pen and inspected their structure. We also used it to examine several of the beetles around the barn. He was fascinated by the colours in their bodies. We even examined several different plant leaves. It was informative for me as well. Tomorrow I will find some websites describing exactly what we saw so we can learn the proper terminology."

"Is that really necessary? He's only five."

"Yes, it's important to learn to use the correct language when describing nature's wonders."

"I suppose you are right."

"Of course I am."

"Brrr …" Louisa shivered as a gust of wind rushed up the coastal path. The wind had picked up and there were swells rising out at sea, threatening the shore as the surf began to pound the rocks below. Martin wrapped his arm more tightly around her shoulder and turned to face the farm, "Hmm … dark clouds are gathering. We should head back before the storm hits."

Louisa sighed and burrowed closer into his chest, "Maybe in a minute. We don't get that much time to ourselves. I'd like to enjoy it a few minutes longer."

Martin glanced over his shoulder, "Right – one minute more and then we should definitely head back."

He stooped to whisper in her ear, "And we will have time all to ourselves in our bedroom."

"Mmm …" she purred as she turned to face him, "Do you have anything special in mind?"

He lifted her face to his and kissed her softly, "I do indeed."

She smiled up at him seductively, "Then I suppose we should go."

"Yes."

Author's note: Happy Valentines Day to everyone in the Doc Martin fan fiction world. Have a wonderful day with your loved ones.